I assumed it would get easier to run an EV, but without a decent infrastructure it’s getting harder and harder

My partner and I were relatively early adopters of an electric vehicle, buying a Renault Zoe in autumn 2020 during the pandemic. It seemed to make sense to get aboard. After all, the future was electric, wasn’t it?

After the first year, I wrote an article in this paper about what the experience was like. It was something of a saga. We discovered the charging infrastructure was a chaotic world of different companies and apps. We experienced – and overcame – range anxiety (will the car go as far as the battery says?), only for it to be replaced by charge anxiety (can you find a charger that works?). We underwent lifestyle changes, some good (like more train use), some bad (like gender division setting in over apps and charging points). We didn’t dare undertake a 700-mile drive across France. But in spite of the difficulties, the article ended on a relatively positive note.